For once I agree with Tom Miller about something.
Pat Hewitt has called for the general public to get to pick the next Labour Leader.
I can't think of anything more likely to reduce Labour's membership below its already pathetic levels than telling people that paying £36 a year for a party card gives them no more democratic rights than any random person who walks in off the street.
The electoral college we have now, with 1/3 of the vote each for the PLP, individual members and the individual members of affiliated trade unions and socialist societies was a compromise reached after years of bitter infighting. It's a fudge but one that ensures that all the main stakeholders in the Labour Party have some say in picking a leader - and particularly that millions of political levy-paying trade unionists get to have a say. Re-opening that can of worms would be a bad, bad move.
Heaven forbid that Labour party members should influence the manifesto!
ReplyDelete"telling people that paying £36 a year for a party card gives them no more democratic rights than any random person who walks in off the street"
ReplyDeleteDo you think that people that pay £36 a year should have more democratic rights than any person who doesn't?
I thought democratic rights were meant to be universal.
Explain please ...
Er... you wouldn't expect a vote in the election of chair of your local golf club if you weren't a member of it... so why would you get a vote for leader of the Labour Party if you are not a member of it or one of its affiliates?
ReplyDeleteThe great thing about the electoral college is that by giving a say to around 6 million levy paying trade unionists it comes about as close to being a primary as you could realistically get in the UK (since there is no provision over here for state funding to cover the cost of full primaries as over the pond - little things like preventing multiple voting don't come cheap after all).
ReplyDeleteBloody hell, Luke, I agree with you. Does this mean I am wrong?
ReplyDeleteI'll let you in on a secret: Pay your £15 to Hackney conservatives and hear NOTHING about how to get involved- at all. No meeting info- nothing.
ReplyDeleteGiven that they didn't campaign here in Hackney, one has to wonder if they even exist. Could it be that mr boff and Mr ollernshaw are the only two?
Blair also got where he was i.e as a labour PM rather than a labour leader of the opposition partly due to a lot of hard work from party members.
ReplyDelete